Digital Chocolate, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher headquartered in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, the founder of video game companies Electronic Arts and The 3DO Company. The company focused on developing games for Java ME-based mobile phones, iOS, and Microsoft Windows, and made some non-entertainment titles. Its marketing motto was Seize the minute.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | The 3DO Company |
| Founded | October 18, 2003[1] |
| Founder | Trip Hawkins |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Fate | Games sold to RockYou |
| Successor | RockYou |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Marc Metis (President)[2] Edmond Chui (VP of Engineering)[2] |
Number of employees | 129[2] |
| Website | digitalchocolate |
The developer was officially closed in 2014. It has sold its games to RockYou, and its website was shut down.
History
Digital Chocolate was founded in 2003 by Hawkins after the failure of The 3DO Company. It had operations in San Mateo, Seattle, St. Petersburg, Bangalore, Helsinki, and Mexicali.
In 2004, Digital Chocolate acquired European developer Sumea,[3] which then became its Helsinki studio.
On August 15, 2011, Digital Chocolate agreed to acquire Sandlot Games, a leading casual game developer and publisher.[4]
In May 2012, Trip Hawkins stepped down as CEO to move to a "consulting and advisory relationship" with the company. The company also announced plans to lay off 180 employees.[5]
Galaxy Life is its most successful title on Facebook to date, ranking at 284th bucket of MAU (Monthly Active Users) as of September 13, 2013.[6] In 2013, Digital Chocolate's Barcelona studio was sold to Ubisoft with the Galaxy Life IP and the Helsinki studio was closed.[7][8][9]
In April 2014, Digital Chocolate's four remaining Facebook games — Army Attack, Crazy Penguin Wars, Millionaire City, and Zombie Lane — were licensed to RockYou, along with the hiring of its developers to continue work on the games.[10][11][12]
Games
Awards
In 2009, the company's game Brick Breaker Revolution won an IGN award for Best Artistic Design.[16]
Mobile Entertainment named the company "best mobile games developer" in 2006 and 2007.[17]
In 2006, Digital Chocolate received nine IGN Game of the Year awards. Its game Tornado Mania! was awarded Wireless Game of the Year with a "perfect 10" score,[18] and the company was named Best Developer.[19]
In 2012, the company's game Army Attack was nominated for the "Social Networking Game of the Year" in the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science's 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[20]
The company has been included in The Red Herring Global 100.[21]